THE RESURRECTION OF JESUS CHRIST
Part 2

180.030.000Torrey: p178, T:IIITopic 30: The
Manner of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ.

180.030.010Torrey: p178, T:III, P:1POINT 10: God raised
Jesus Christ from the dead by the working of the strength of His might.

Acts
2:24, 32[24] But God raised
him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible
for death to keep its hold on him. [32] God has raised this Jesus to life, and
we are all witnesses of the fact.

Acts
10:40but God raised him
from the dead on the third day and caused him to be seen.

Acts
13:30But God raised him
from the dead,

Romans
10:9That if you confess
with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God
raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

Colossians
2:12having been buried
with him in baptism and raised with him through your faith in the power of God,
who raised him from the dead.

Ephesians
1:19-20[19] and his incomparably
great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty
strength, [20] which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and
seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms,

It was not so much that Jesus Christ arose
as that God raised Him. It was god who put forth the might, it was God who loosed
the pains of death. He was raised by an act of power from without and not by
the fullness of life within. He laid down His life to the fullest extent, He
was in the fullest sense dead, and it took the strength of God's might to raise
Him.

180.030.020Torrey: p179, T:III, P:2POINT 20: Jesus
Christ, after His resurrection, ate and drank, had hands, feet, flesh and bones,
and all the appearance of a man.

John
20:27Then he said to Thomas,
"Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into
my side. Stop doubting and believe."

Acts
10:40-41[40] but God raised
him from the dead on the third day and caused him to be seen. [41] He was not
seen by all the people, but by witnesses whom God had already chosen -- by us
who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead.

Luke
24:39Look at my hands
and my feet. It is I myself! Touch me and see; a ghost does not have flesh and
bones, as you see I have."

Luke
24:15, 18[15] As they
talked and discussed these things with each other, Jesus himself came up and
walked along with them; [18] One of them, named Cleopas, asked him, "Are
you only a visitor to Jerusalem and do not know the things that have happened
there in these days?"

John
20:14-15[14] At this,
she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that
it was Jesus. [15] "Woman," he said, "why are you crying? Who
is it you are looking for?" Thinking he was the gardener, she said, "Sir,
if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get
him."

180.030.030Torrey: p179, T:III, P:3POINT 30: Jesus
Christ's resurrection appearance was sufficiently different from His earthly
appearance as not to beclearly recognizable by His intimate friends.

John
21:4, 12[4] Early in the
morning, Jesus stood on the shore, but the disciples did not realize that it
was Jesus. [12] Jesus said to them, "Come and have breakfast." None
of the disciples dared ask him, "Who are you?" They knew it was the
Lord.

=== DISCUSSION ===

Reviser's Note: I have to disagree
with Torrey on this point. His original wording is "Jesus' resurrection
appearance was so different . . ." Rather, it appears that
God clouded the disciples' minds because of their lack of belief. See
Luke 24:13-35, excerpts of which are below:

Luke 24:13-16
[13] Now that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus,
about seven miles from Jerusalem. [14] They were talking with each other
about everything that had happened. [15] As they talked and discussed these
things with each other, Jesus himself came up and walked along with them;
[16] but they were kept from recognizing him.

Luke 24:25-27
[25] He said to them, "How foolish you are, and how slow of heart to
believe all that the prophets have spoken! [26] Did not the Christ have
to suffer these things and then enter his glory?" [27] And beginning
with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all
the Scriptures concerning himself.

Luke 24:30-32
[30] When he was at the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks, broke
it and began to give it to them. [31] Then their eyes were opened and they
recognized him, and he disappeared from their sight. [32] They asked each
other, "Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with
us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?"

180.030.040Torrey: p179, T:III, P:4POINT 40: Jesus
Christ's resurrection body was of such character that He could appear in a room
where the doors were shut and could vanish from the sight of men. It was not
subject to some of the limitations under which ordinary earthly bodies exist
and act.

John
20:19, 26[19] On the evening
of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors
locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace
be with you!" [26] A week later his disciples were in the house again,
and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood
among them and said, "Peace be with you!"

Luke
24:31but when they entered,
they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus.

Philippians
3:21who, by the power
that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform
our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.

Compare 1 Corinthians 15:42-50[42] So will it be with the resurrection of the dead. The body
that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable; [43] it is sown in dishonor,
it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; [44] it
is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural
body, there is also a spiritual body. [45] So it is written: "The first
man Adam became a living being" ; the last Adam, a life-giving spirit.
[46] The spiritual did not come first, but the natural, and after that the spiritual.
[47] The first man was of the dust of the earth, the second man from heaven.
[48] As was the earthly man, so are those who are of the earth; and as is the
man from heaven, so also are those who are of heaven. [49] And just as we have
borne the likeness of the earthly man, so shall we bear the likeness of the
man from heaven. [50] I declare to you, brothers, that flesh and blood cannot
inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.

=== DISCUSSION ===

Luke
24:39 Revised Standard VersionSee
my hands and my feet, that it is I myself! Handle me, and see; for a spirit
does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.

John
20:19On the evening of
that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the
doors locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among
them and said, "Peace be with you!"

Luke
24:31, New American BibleWith
that their eyes were opened and they recognized him;, whereupon he vanished
from their sight.

Luke
24:36-37[36] While they
were still talking about this, Jesus himself [suddenly] stood
among them and said to them, "Peace be with you." [37] They
were startled and frightened, thinking they saw a ghost.

John 20:25-27
[25] So the other disciples told him, "We have seen the Lord!" But
he said to them, "Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger
where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe it."
[26] A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with
them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said,
"Peace be with you!" [27] Then he said to Thomas, "Put your finger
here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting
and believe."

If Jesus' resurrected body had blood, it would
be flowing out the open wounds.

Many Christians incorrectly believe we will get
a new body when we are resurrected. If that were the case,
what did God do with Jesus' old body?

180.040.000Torrey: p180, T:IVTopic 40: The
Results of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ.

180.040.010Torrey: p180, T:IV, P:1POINT 10: Through
Jesus Christ men became believers in God who raised Him from the dead. By the
resurrection of Jesus Christ a solid foundation is laid for our faith in God.

1
Peter 1:21Through him
you believe in God, who raised him from the dead and glorified him, and so your
faith and hope are in God.

Men have been looking constantly for proofs
of the existence and character of god. There is the argument from the marks
of creative intelligence and design in the material universe, the argument form
the evidence of an intelligent guiding hand in human history, the ontological
argument, etc., but the resurrection of Jesus Christ points with unerring certainty
to the existence, power, and holiness of the God who raised Him. On the other
hand, if Christ is not raised from the dead our faith is in vain.

1
Corinthians 15:17And if
Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins.

My belief in the God of the Bible is not
a felicitous fancy, it is a fixed faith resting upon an incontrovertibly firm
fact.

180.040.020Torrey: p181, T:IV, P:2POINT 20: By the
Resurrection of Jesus Christ believers are begotten again unto a living hope,
to an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that does not fade away,
reserved in heaven.

1
Peter 1:3-4[3] Praise
be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has
given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ
from the dead, [4] and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade
-- kept in heaven for you,

The Resurrection of Jesus Christ is the truth
which, made living in our hearts by the Holy Spirit, results in the "new
birth to a living hope, and an incorruptible, etc., inheritance."

Compare Romans 10:9That
if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your
heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

Through our believing in a Risen and Living
Christ, Christ begins to live in us. The Resurrection of Christ also forms a
firm foundation of fact upon which to build our hope for the future.

180.040.030Torrey: p181, T:IV, P:3POINT 30: By His
Resurrection Jesus Christ is declared (or openly appointed or designated) to
be the Son of God with power.

Romans
1:4and who through the
Spirit of holiness was declared with power to be the Son of God by his resurrection
from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord.

The claim that Jesus made was that, while
even the greatest and best of the prophets were only servants, He was a Son,
a beloved and only one of the Father. That while other faithful messengers were
only servants in the kingdom of God, it belonged to Himself as His own inheritance.

Mark
12:6-7[6] He had one left
to send, a son, whom he loved. He sent him last of all, saying, "They will
respect my son." [7] But the tenants said to one another, This is the heir.
Come, let's kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.

That He was one with the Father, and that
men should honor Him "even as they honor the Father."

John
10:30I and the Father
are one.

John
5:23that all may honor
the Son just as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not
honor the Father, who sent him.

By raising Christ from the dead god set His
seal to this claim. Others, it is true, have been raised from the dead by God's
power, but they made no such claim as this prior to their death. But Jesus made
this extraordinary claim; was put to death for making it; previous to His death
claimed that God would raise Him again the third day. God did so, and thus affirmed
the claim of Jesus Christ, and announced to all ages in a way more convincing
and satisfying than an audible voice from heaven, "Jesus Christ is my Son
and all men must honor the Son even as they honor me." The admission of
the Resurrection of Jesus Christ leads logically to the admission of His deity.

180.040.040Torrey: p182, T:IV, P:4POINT 40: By the
Resurrection of Jesus Christ God "has given assurance to all men"
that "He will judge the world in righteousness by "Jesus Christ."

Acts
17:31For he has set a
day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He
has given proof of this to all men by raising him from the dead.

Jesus Christ claimed that God would judge
the world by Him.

John
5:22, 27-29[22] Moreover,
the Father judges no one, but has entrusted all judgment to the Son, [27] And
he has given him authority to judge because he is the Son of Man. [28] "Do
not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves
will hear his voice [29] and come out -- those who have done good will rise
to live, and those who have done evil will rise to be condemned.

By raising Christ from the dead God has set
His seal to that claim. If men ask me how I know there is a judgment day coming
when Christ shall judge the world in righteousness, I reply because I know Jesus
Christ arose. The sure fact of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ in the past,
points unerringly forward to the sure coming of judgment in the future. Belief
in a judgment day is no guess of theologians, it is a positive faith founded
upon a proved fact.

180.040.050Torrey: p182, T:IV, P:5POINT 50: By the
Resurrection of Jesus Christ believers in Him are justified -- i.e., declared
righteous.

Romans
4:25He was delivered over
to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.

(a) Christ gave His life a propitiation for
believers. He "was delivered up for our transgressions." The Resurrection
settles it beyond a peradventure that God has accepted the propitiation. The
Resurrection is God's declaration of His acceptance of the propitiation, and
is, therefore, the declaration of our justification. When another agrees to
settle for my responsibilities, I always wish to know whether the settlement
is accepted. By the Resurrection, God declares that He has accepted and is satisfied
with the settlement Christ has made. I am thus declared righteous in God's sight.
If we are ever troubled with doubts as to whether God has accepted the offering
Christ made, we have only to look at the empty tomb and the Risen Lord.

(b) When Christ arose, He arose as our representative.
He died as our representative, He arose as our representative, He ascended as
our representative, He is seated as our representative.

Ephesians
2:5-6[5] made us alive
with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions -- it is by grace you have
been saved. [6] And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the
heavenly realms in Christ Jesus

As one risen, ascended, seated, He is declared
to be God's chosen and accepted one, and we are declared chosen, accepted, righteous
to Him.

180.040.060Torrey: p183, T:IV, P:6POINT 60: It is
through being joined to the Risen Christ that the believer brings forth fruit
to God.

Romans
7:4So, my brothers, you
also died to the law through the body of Christ, that you might belong to another,
to him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit to God.

The only living or doing or accomplishing
in the Christian life that is acceptable to God is through union with the Risen
Christ. Through union with the crucified Christ we get our pardon, our cleansing
from guilt, our justification, our perfect standing before God. Through union
with the Risen Christ we get power for life and fruit. One reason why there
is so little of life and fruit in many professedly Christian lives is because
there is so little knowledge of the Risen and Living Christ. Paul tells of God,
who raised Him from the dead.

Colossians
2:12having been buried
with him in baptism and raised with him through your faith in the power of God,
who raised him from the dead.

We are raised with Him to walk in newness
of life. Romans 6:4
This is the truth which baptism symbolizes.

Romans
6:3-4[3] Or don't you
know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his
death? [4] We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order
that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father,
we too may live a new life.

The full power of Christ's resurrection we
shall not know until we attain unto the resurrection from the dead.

Philippians
3:10-11[10] I want to
know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing
in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, [11] and so, somehow, to
attain to the resurrection from the dead.

"He that raised up Jesus from the dead
shall also quicken our mortal bodies by His spirit which dwelleth in you."

Romans
8:11And if the Spirit
of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ
from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit,
who lives in you.

But "the power of this resurrection"
in our moral and spiritual lives, begetting "newness of life," and
"fruit unto God," we may know even now, through being "joined
to him who was raised from the dead." Are you "joined to another,
even to him who was raised from the dead?" Here lies the secret of holy
living, "newness of life," victory over sin, fruit unto God.

180.040.070Torrey: p183, T:IV, P:7POINT 70: Through
the life of Jesus Christ believers will be saved.

Romans
5:9-10[9] Since we have
now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God's
wrath through him! [10] For if, when we were God's enemies, we were reconciled
to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled,
shall we be saved through his life!

Note 1 -- The life spoken of here evidently
does not refer to the example of Christ, but to His life, which is the outcome
of His Resurrection.

Compare John 14:19Before
long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live,
you also will live.

Note 2. -- The salvation spoken of here evidently
does not refer to salvation from the guilt of sin -- i.e., pardon and justification.
That has been spoken of in the preceding verse as already secured "by his
blood." It is salvation in the future -- "shall be saved
by his life." By a comparison with the previous verse it is evidently salvation
from the coming wrath. The life of Christ that is the outcome of the Resurrection
secures this for us. this life will have its perfect manifestation in the coming
of the Lord.

Colossians
3:4When Christ, who is
your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

2
Thessalonians 1:9-10[9]
They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence
of the Lord and from the majesty of his power [10] on the day he comes to be
glorified in his holy people and to be marveled at among all those who have
believed. This includes you, because you believed our testimony to you.

180.040.080Torrey: p184, T:IV, P:8POINT 80: Through
the Resurrection of Jesus Christ we have an ever-living high priest at the right
hand of God to continually make intercession for us, and who is therefore able
to save to the uttermost (or "to all completeness").

Romans
8:34Who is he that condemns?
Christ Jesus, who died -- more than that, who was raised to life -- is at the
right hand of God and is also interceding for us.

Hebrews
7:25Therefore he is able
to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always
lives to intercede for them.

Salvation is begun by the atoning death of
Jesus Christ; it is continued by the Resurrection and Intercession of Christ.
We have not only a Savior who died and so made atonement for sin, but also a
Savior who rose and carried the blood into the holy of holies -- God's own presence
-- and presents it there, and who ever lives and pleads our case in every new
failure.

1
John 2:1My dear children,
I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have
one who speaks to the Father in our defense -- Jesus Christ, the Righteous One.

Compare Luke 22:31-32[31]
Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift you as wheat. [32] But I have prayed for
you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen
your brothers.

John
11:42I knew that you always
hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they
may believe that you sent me.

Herein He our abiding security and our assurance
of the ultimate perfect completeness of Christ's work for us and in us.

Note the believer's triumphant challenge:

Romans
8:33-34[33] Who will bring
any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. [34]
Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died -- more than that, who was raised
to life -- is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.

180.040.090Torrey: p185, T:IV, P:9POINT 90: In the
Resurrection of Jesus Christ we have an illustration and proof of the exceeding
greatness of God's power toward us.

Ephesians
1:18-20[18] I pray also
that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the
hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the
saints, [19] and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power
is like the working of his mighty strength, [20] which he exerted in Christ
when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly
realms,

If we would understand and know what God
can do in and for us, we have simply to look at and meditate upon the Resurrection
of Jesus Christ, looking to God to give us "
... the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better."
(Ephesians 1:17)

180.040.100Torrey: p185, T:IV, P:10POINT 100: The Resurrection
of Jesus Christ is the guarantee of our own resurrection.

1
Thessalonians 4:14We believe
that Jesus died and rose again and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus
those who have fallen asleep in him.

2
Corinthians 4:14because
we know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus from the dead will also raise
us with Jesus and present us with you in his presence.

We know that God will raise us up because
He raised Him up. We are so untied to Christ by faith that if He rose we must.
If the spirit of Him who raised up Christ from the dead will also quicken our
mortal bodies by His spirit that dwells in us.

Romans
8:11And if the Spirit
of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ
from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit,
who lives in you.

The Resurrection of Jesus Christ has robbed
death of its terrors for the believer.

1
Corinthians 15:55-57[55]
"Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?"
[56] The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. [57] But thanks
be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

180.040.110Torrey: p185, T:IV, P:11POINT 110: The Resurrection
of Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of the promise made to the Fathers.

Acts
13:32-33[32] We tell you
the good news: What God promised our fathers [33] he has fulfilled for us, their
children, by raising up Jesus. As it is written in the second Psalm: "You
are my Son; today I have become your Father."

QUESTION: What was the promise made to the
Fathers of which the Resurrection of Christ is the fulfillment?

ANSWER: Acts
3:25And you are heirs
of the prophets and of the covenant God made with your fathers. He said to Abraham,
"Through your offspring all peoples on earth will be blessed."

Compare to the following:

Genesis
22:18and through your
offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me.

Genesis
26:4I will make your descendants
as numerous as the stars in the sky and will give them all these lands, and
through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed,

Genesis
12:3I will bless those
who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth
will be blessed through you.

Galatians
3:16The promises were
spoken to Abraham and to his seed. The Scripture does not say "and to seeds,"
meaning many people, but "and to your seed," meaning one person, who
is Christ.

Genesis
3:15And I will put enmity
between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush
your head, and you will strike his heel.

The Risen Jesus Christ is the seed in which
all nations shall be blessed in His turning them away from their iniquities.

Acts
3:26When God raised up
his servant, he sent him first to you to bless you by turning each of you from
your wicked ways.

Furthermore, "Resurrection" is
the substance of the promise made to the Fathers.

Acts
26:6-8[6] And now it is
because of my hope in what God has promised our fathers that I am on trial today.
[7] This is the promise our twelve tribes are hoping to see fulfilled as they
earnestly serve God day and night. O king, it is because of this hope that the
Jews are accusing me. [8] Why should any of you consider it incredible that
God raises the dead?

Compare Acts 23:6Then
Paul, knowing that some of them were Sadducees and the others Pharisees, called
out in the Sanhedrin, "My brothers, I am a Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee.
I stand on trial because of my hope in the resurrection of the dead."

And Jesus the resurrected one, and first
fruits of them that sleep, is the fulfillment of this promise. The Resurrection
of Jesus Christ is the guarantee of the fulfillment of all the promises of God:

First, because it declares
Him to be the Son of God with power, and thus that the promises of the Bible
all of which He endorses.

Luke
24:44He said to them,
"This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be
fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the
Psalms."

are the sure words of God.

Second, because it reveals
God's ability to keep His word and also His mighty power toward us. He that
keeps His word in raising the dead can surely fulfill all His promises.

Compare Acts 13:38-39[38]
"Therefore, my brothers, I want you to know that through Jesus the forgiveness
of sins is proclaimed to you. [39] Through him everyone who believes is justified
from everything you could not be justified from by the law of Moses.

If we wish to know that all the promise of
God is in Christ Jesus, we have only to look to that most marvelous fulfillment
of God's word and promise that has already taken place -- the Resurrection --
and see in that the guarantee of the fulfillment of all. If you are ever tempted
to think any promise of the Word too large and that you must discount it, remember
that Christ is risen and that therein you have a proof and illustration of the
"exceeding greatness of his power toward us who believe."